Two-Face (episode)
"Two-Face" is a two-part episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series. It depicts the transformation of Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent into the villain Two-Face. Plot Part I Harvey Dent has a nightmare in which he is confronted by a mysterious doppelganger, flipping a coin over and over again. Just before Dent wakes up, the figure assures him: "It's time, Harvey... it's time!". Dent awakens in his office, aroused by his secretary Carlos from the D.A.'s office, and heads out to meet with Commissioner Gordon for a raid on a derelict building being held by Rupert Thorne's gang, heavily defended with stolen weapons and supplies from Gotham's Army depots. With Batman's help, the gang is captured. In front of news reporters, Dent publicly congratulates the police and thanks Gordon. But just then, one of the captured crooks taunts Dent with the assurance that he and his cohorts will soon be free, and kicks a puddle of mud, splattering it on Dent's suit. To everyone's shock, Dent goes berserk with fury and attacks the handcuffed man, and has to be pulled off him. A second later, Dent inexplicably reverts to his amiable, courteous self, with seemingly no memory of the fit of rage. Despite having seen the direct cause of the attack, Gordon asks what that was about and Dent says "I don't know. I guess he just hit the right button." Gordon mutters "That's one heck of a button." Meanwhile, Thorne is gritting his teeth, as Dent's actions have crippled his interests in Gotham. He commands his moll Candice, to find something dirty about Dent's past, despite his apparently spotless record that could be used in his favor. A short time later at a campaign party to raise funds for his re-election as Gothams' District Attorney at Wayne Manor, Dent has another violent outburst in public when he is told that Thorne's men have been released due to an incomplete warrant. Bruce Wayne is nearby and tries to calm him, but Dent shouts him away, and is prepared to attack him, only calmed by the intervention of his fiancé, Grace Lamont. Concerned, Bruce advises him to seek psychiatric help to which Grace implies he already is, much to Harvey's embarrassment. Dent is highly reluctant to appear vulnerable during his reelection campaign, but agrees to seek counseling. Under hypnosis with Dr. Nora Crest, while Candice eavesdrops, an alternate personality known as "Big Bad Harv" surfaces. "Harv" is resentful of Dent and produces a coin which he compulsively flips. Dr. Crest tries to reason with Harv, but he refuses to let Dent take over completely. After Dr. Crest is nearly thrown from the window, she snaps her fingers. Dent resurfaces, and is immediately shaken by "Big Bad Harv" and his actions, stating that he used to be able to repress him before. Nora suggests Dent admit himself to a psychiatric hospital for a few days, but Dent refused saying that it'd destroy his campaign entirely. Shakily, Dent agrees to the continued (but secret) therapy sessions during the reelection campaign along with letting up on the aggression of it to keep his emotions in-check. Unbeknownst to Harvey, Candice secretly overheard the incident and she leaves to tell Thorne. Later at a campaign party, it is revealed that Dent is about to receive a landslide victory in the re-election; and that Harvey decides to celebrate this by proposing to Grace and selecting a wedding date later that evening as part of his acceptance speech to DA. Dent receives a call from Thorne, who summons him to a meeting, or else "Big Bad Harv" will be exposed; completely demolishing Harvey's career. Noticing Dent's strange behavior, Bruce changes into Batman and follows him. At an abandoned chemical plant, Thorne and his gang confront Dent, having found records from his childhood that show that after he fought back against a bully; the boy was later hospitalized (for appendicitis, not injuries, but young Dent didn't know that). Feeling guilty, Harvey repressed his anger so completely that it has built up over the years, until it has become "Big Bad Harv". Thorne threatens to expose an increasingly agitated Dent unless he complies with Thorne's agenda. Suddenly calm, Dent smiles and says: "You're talking to the wrong Harvey." Now it is Big Bad Harv who rises and attacks Thorne and his accomplices, wiping out the gang with the reluctant aid of Batman. Thorne grabs the psychiatric file and runs out of the office through the plant, and Dent chases him. One of Thorne's thugs opens fire with a Tommy gun, and Batman knocks his aim off. A stray bullet hits an electrical switchboard, and a live cable falls into a vat of chemicals, which blow up under the catwalk where Dent has fallen face-down, the explosion tears through the catwalk and catching him right in the face. As Batman attends to his fallen friend, he recoils in horror at the damage wrought. Dent is rushed to a hospital. The doctor removes his bandages, confessing that there will be some scarring. But when the bandages are gone, the doctor and nurse back away in horror. Dent demands to see a mirror. Grace walks down the hall to Dent's room carrying flowers, then hears a horrible scream and sees Dent bolt from his room, clutching his face. Grace asks him what happened. He turns, revealing that one side of his body has been scarred by the chemicals, making him seem half-human, half-monster. She faints dead away. Dent, muttering a rueful farewell, disappears through the hospital's window. Part II Six months later, Dent, now calling himself "Two-Face", has recruited two henchmen, twin brothers Min and Max. Two-Face's car pulls up outside one of Thorne's bookies, and the gangster flips a coin: both sides are stamped with a head, but one has been gouged with deep scratches. Two-Face flips the coin to determine whether they will hit the bookie. The coin lands "bad" heads up, and they raid the place. After clearing out the safe and the cash drawers, and taking a crate filled with silver dollars, one of the twins sees a diamond ring on a woman's finger, and starts to take it. Two-Face flips the coin again, saying jewelry wasn't part of the plan – the coin lands "good" heads up and to his henchman's bafflement, Two-Face yells at him to leave the ring. Before leaving, Two-Face empties his gun into the walls and television screens, leaving a message for Thorne: he's going down. Thorne, infuriated that his most fearsome enemy is now targeting him without the constraint of the law and hurting his pocket much more than he ever did as District Attorney, puts a two million dollar contract on Two-Face's head, one million for each face. Bruce has his own nightmare, when both Dent and his parents demand why he failed to save them. Waking, he vows to save his friend at any cost. Candice, playing a more subtle game than Thorne's other thugs, visits Grace disguised as a police detective, saying that they want to help Dent. Candice leaves her a transmitter with instructions to activate it if Dent contacts her. In their hideout, Two-Face starts sharing out the profits of the bookie raid. When he opens his own wallet, he freezes when he sees a picture of himself, whole and happy, with Grace at his side. Noticing this, Max offers to bring Grace to him if he misses her so much. Two-Face flips his coin, which lands bad heads, and says it can wait. He also says he's through with humiliating Thorne, and is ready to take him down once and for all. Batman looks at Two-Face's list of targets – all of which, besides having some relation to the number two, are fronts for Thorne's activities – and predicts his next target. At the office of Thorne's attorney (last name Doubleday), Two-Face and his men find a confidential file on Thorne with evidence galore of his criminal activities. Batman appears and tries to stop them, pleading with Two-Face to let him help. Two-Face is momentarily halted by the mention of Grace, but then Batman is distracted by the appearance of Max, snapping Two-Face out of it. Two-Face escapes with the file, flooring Batman with a kick that sends him crashing into a janitor's cart, severely cracking his ribs. As they are driving away, Two-Face sees an ad for a wedding shop, and imagines that the bride is Grace. Telling his men to stop the car, he takes out his coin and flips it... He telephones Grace and asks to meet with her. She agrees and after she hangs up, hesitates briefly, then activates the transmitter. Thorne rages that if the file finds its way to the police, he will be ruined. Then Candice receives the signal from Grace. Grace is delivered to the derelict "Wild Deuce" club, where she enters a large room – half of it carefully groomed, half of it violently destroyed. Two-Face stands in the middle, his scarred half covered by a white cloth with an open eyehole. When Grace tries to reason with him, he starts talking about chance, saying how it controls everything, including whether a person is good or bad. Grace refuses to accept this, saying that Dent has accomplished all the good things in his life – becoming District Attorney, winning her heart – through hard work and virtue. He can still be a good person, and reverse the harm he has done. She then pulls away the cloth and says that, despite everything he's become, she still loves him. Two-Face embraces her, his voice breaking... and then Thorne enters with his thugs, having knocked out Min and Max. Candice gloatingly informs Two-Face that Grace is the one who led them to him, while Grace is horrified. Thorne demands the file and Two-Face refuses, but Throne breaks him by threatening Grace. Beaten, Two-Face pulls the file from under one of the disused roulette tables. Thorne confirms that the file is genuine, then orders his henchmen to kill both of them. Just then, Batman arrives. Thorne attempts to shoot him, but Two-Face kicks Thorne and causes him to shoot a chandelier which collapses onto him. Batman and Two-Face attack the thugs, though Batman is severely hampered by his cracked ribs, while Grace does her part by knocking Candice out. Once the thugs are subdued, Two-Face aims a Tommy gun at the trapped Thorne, while Batman is too weak to rise. Grace and Batman plead to let the law deal with Thorne, and Two-Face retorts that the only law is the law of averages. He flips his coin to decide Thorne's fate... and then Batman throws the crate of silver dollars, mixing them in midair with Two-Face's coin and causing him to lose it. Unable to decide without it, Two-Face collapses onto the club's floor, throwing a tantrum of rage as Grace comforts him. The police arrive and Thorne and his gang are taken away. Two-Face is also arrested, but with Grace by his side. Gordon wonders whether there's hope for Dent. Batman says wherever there is love, there is hope. But alone, he flips a coin into a nearby fountain, wishing his old friend Harvey the best of luck. As he turns away, the coin lands heads up. 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